Marine life-preserving jacket.



H. L. ZIMAN.

MARINE LIFE PRE-SERVING JACKET.

APPLICATION FILED AuG.6. 1917.

1,295,667. Patented Feb..25, 1919.

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Be it known that I, Hmimz Lion-n1. ZIMAN,

' subject of King. of Great Britain and Ireland,- residing at 8 Woolcott'street, Sydney,

New South Wales, Australia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Marine Life Preserving Jackets, of which the following is a specification.

This'invention consists in a buoyant acket constructed as hereinafter described w1th a casing of canvas or like flexible fabric and a filling of buoyant material packed into eight pockets formed in said casingfso as to -d1stend same, and form'buoyant pads surrounding a median opening which accommodates the neck of the wearer.

The filling material used in practice con sists of a buoyantsubstance Such, for instance, as kapok'fiber, which is preferably subjected to treatment to render it waterproof, fireproof, and vermin proof. The proofing treatment of kapok fiber to improve it for this purpose does not form part of the present invention. 7 y

In use, buoyant life-saving ackets, ac-

- cording to this invention, attain certain ob- 85' I of wearer cannot be injured by'upward disjects of substantial practical importance. Thebody of the wearer is buoyed in an erect position with the shoulders above water, notwithstanding change of position of the wearers limbs; the .head of the wearer is supported in an erect position notwithstanding that the wearer is in an unconscious and limp condition; the limbs ofthe wearer are quite free, and the neck or head placement of the jacket if the wearer should jump from a considerable height into water. Furthermore, the. convenientshape of the jacket when'extended, which permits of it being stowed flat underbedding, its light weight, comfortable fitting, and facile at:

tachment on the body of a wearer necessarily in correct position thereon, and its long life wide range of necessary and desirable quali pears when extended flat.

ties.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the jacket fastened on the body of the man; and Fig. 2 is an outside plan view of the jacket, as it apand great surplus buoyancy combine in it a shoulder pads 4 and 5, and between the breast-pads 7 and- 8.

The shoulder pads 4 and 5 are connected at 17 and 18 at the ends to the back pads 1 and 2, and to the breast pads 7 and 8, so'that the jacket may be bent over the shoulders readilyas shown in'Fig. 1.-

Space 14 accommodates the neck of the to the back pads 1 and 2, and their ends are tiedaround the band portion 11 above the skirt pads 9 and..10, and below the breast pads 7 and 8, as will be clearly seen on reference to Fig. 1.

The casing for the jacket may be formed from a single piece of duck, light canvas, or

other-appropriate flexible. fabric material, folded over, and machine-stitchedto form pockets, with median portions 13 14- removed and slitted, to permit the jacket to be passed'over the head of the wearer, and then 5'5 p Specification cfLettersl'atent' Pate ted Feb.25,. 1919. Application filed August a, 1917. Serial No. 184,772.

closed around the upper part of the wearers body and secured thereon by straps 15 and,

16. .The connecting portions'3,11, 12,17 and 18 are inthis case'integral .with'the padcasings, but it will be understood that the pads may be constructed separately and stitched to the band at '3, 11, 12, 17- and 18, or that the pads may be constructedseparately and attached to a sheetof duck or other fabric 5 cut to the outline patt'ernshown in Fig. 2. The two back-pads are adapted to set rearward, of -the shoulders, the two upper front pads-are adapted to cover'the breast and set high up'so as to support the chin of ,the wearer, the ewe. front skirt pads are adapted to hanga bout thefwaist .of the wearer, and the shoulder; pads to ,set close over the shoulders and -against ffthe -sides of the neck. The two breast pads-arefirs.- 'tened together after the jacket is'placed on the body; of the wearer by the .ties .or straps- 15, and the back pads 'aretied by girth.

straps 16 which pass arou'ndthe band "11 WhlCh connects the 'skirt' pads "with the breast .pads.

V v I. I1 0 B .reason of the perfectly free connection of t e several pads offered by the flexible 7O wearer, land the space 13 isclosed on the 1' fabric connections between them, each pad is self-adjusting to the form of the wearer i the packing thereof with fiber will. appear only at the front portion thereof,-the underneath casing which sets against the body of the wearer, setting normally flat.

The jacket maybe placed readily on the body of the wearer byv drawing the shoulder pads and breast padsapart and passing the head through the open space 14 between 'them. When the straps 1'5 and .16 are tied in the manner shown in Fig. 1, the jacket is i thejacket jumps feet first into water from.

boats or insaving helpless persons.

securely fixed on the body of the wearer so that the breast pads support the chin and 20 hold the head erect, and the shoulder pads support the head laterally. There is a greater buoyancy in the frontal portion of the jacket than in the rear portion with v the object of supporting the wearer in-- the water in an erect position, notwithstandin voluntary or involuntary body and lim movements.

The jacket is not liable to upward displacement in use-so as to injure the head or neck'of-the wearer, or cause discomfort, and when fixed it leaves the arms and neck quite free so that the wearer may swimor paddle or assist in righting overturned The skirt pads being free tendto float outward from the body, and whena person wearing a ships deck or'other considerableheight, these skirt pads are forced outward by impact on the surface and retard immersion without forcing the-breast portion of the jacket upward.

The shoulder pads 4 and 5 are relatively thin pads. The ack, breast, and skirt pads are relatively stout pads. 4

The structural feature which distinguishes this jacket from known jackets of the same general type is the median aperture of keyhole shape entirely surrounded by pads,

which form a continuous support for the wearers head. The larger or eye portion 14 of this keyhole shaped opening is adapted vto embrace the neck of the wearer;

when the slot 13 is closed by tying the straps15 across the breast,-the upper parts name to thls specification mthe presence of of the breast pads are forced up under'the wearers chin,'.the upper parts of the back pads 1 and 2- being at the same time drawn close up to theback of the wearers head and the inner edge of the shoulder pads draw in against the sides of the neck. The

jacket is thus self adjusting, a continuous support for the back and sides of the head and underneath support for'thechin being insured whereby risk of injury to the neck by wave bufieting is eliminated, while the fullest facility is offered for donning the What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A buoyant life-saving acket comprising back pads, shoulder pads, breast pads,-

and front skirt pads, disposed in pairs about a keyhole shape median opening whereof the several pads in each part are end connected to each other, and the end pads laterally connnected to each other by flexible fabric, and adapted to be secured on the bodyof the wearer by crossbreast straps, and by girth straps which are secured to the lower portions of the back pads, which straps whentied operate to secure the pads about the body of the wearer with the breast, shoulder and back pads embraced closely around the neck of the wearer.

2. A bipartite life-saving jacket comprising eight pads symmetrically disposed and flexible connected together, except across a median opening of =keyhole shape, and adapted to be secured on the body of a. person by breast and girth straps so as to close said opening upon the breast and around the neck of the wearer, said pads consisting of buoyant material packed in the pockets formed by stitching together casing fabric so that parts of such fabric intervening between said pads form flexible connections uniting the pads.

, closed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my two subscribing witnesses. r a HENRY LIONEL ZIMAN. Witnesses:

W. J; HUMPHREYS, H. C. CAMPBELL. 

